Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Category: SWTOR Page 3 of 5

Biggs On: Why I Still Play SWTOR

By

On June 22, 2012

In Biggs On, Gaming, SWTOR

It has been a tumultuous time for Bioware and EA lately. The layoffs, server mergers, and plummet in stock price has been a pretty grim omen for the game manufacturer. SWTOR and Bioware have been receiving some tough criticisms from the gaming community and its sad to see such negativity because honestly I really enjoy playing SWTOR. I would say I enjoy it more then WoW and a lot more then Diablo III (I just couldn’t get into Diablo III – I like DC Universe Online more then D3, but I digress).

All the things people complain are wrong with the game I don’t see as negatives. I enjoy the story, the quests, the gameplay, the feel of the game. I love how crafting works, combat, instances, raids, pvp and traveling between planets is an appropriate concept for the game because its freaking Star Wars! In fact there is very little that annoys me about the game; the harsh feedback and whining from the gaming community is more annoying then anything in the game.

Yes, it plays like WoW so I would agree that one could loosely suggest its a WoW clone, but when did that become a negative? It seems to me that creating a clone of a previously successful game was the formula for success. Case in point: WoW was labeled as a clone of EverQuest and some may even argue that EverQuest was a clone of something older then it (perhaps Lineage or Ultima Online). The point is, games are made to parallel their predecessors or competitors to entice players to try their game. The more alike the game is to something they have played before, the easier it is to keep them playing it.

I have no control over the destiny of SWTOR. If Bioware has to shut it down then I am going to try to keep playing it until that day. I do think that if they were successful in going to a Free-2-Play model they may see people come back in droves because it really is a fun game. The risk though is now that they are consolidating servers, if they get a sudden influx of returning (or new) players, it may cause over-population and performance issues. It’s a difficult line to walk especially since gamers these days are so fickle and the market is saturated with so many games.

In the end, these games are a business and therefore they must make money. I trust that Bioware and EA will do what is necessary to keep producing great games. Who knows, perhaps those people that are constantly whining and complaining are the minority because the people that are content with the state of the games are too busy playing them instead of crying to complete strangers (who don’t give a rip) on the Internet.

Cheers!

SWTOR: End-Game Criticisms

By

On April 30, 2012

In Gaming, MMORPG, SWTOR

The latest news about SWTOR has been depressing lately. Despite all the great things that the latest patch provided, other MMO news sites are still reporting a decline in subscriptions, and some are projecting a 500,000 drop in subscriptions by 2013. I guess I’m a little confused as to why people are suddenly turning away from this game because I thought the story and the lore are extremely compelling. Apparently, based on some of the articles I have been reading, the major contributor to the declining subscription is end-game content.

I’ll be honest, I don’t know what people find wrong with the end-game. After you hit level 50 you can either PvP or you can start doing Hard Mode Flashpoints (and then ultimately Operations). I guess I am confused as to how this is any different then what you do when you hit level cap in other MMOs, like World of Warcraft. Granted SWTOR doesn’t have LFG tools like the Dungeon or Raid Finder (for now, this will change with patch 1.3), but those tools are still brand new to WoW. Prior to their implementation you still had to find your own groups (either from your guild or using public channels).

I will admit, some of the end game dailies are a little “grindy”. You do have to get quite a few daily commendations if you want to buy any decent gear. Granted a much more entertaining method of obtaining gear would be to do Hard Mode Flashpoints. So, really, a group finder tool may be just the thing to help improve the end game, however, I hope its not too late. The population on the servers is already pretty meager and Bioware is already starting to talk about offering server transfer services. I hope to see things improving in the future because in my opinion, I enjoy SWTOR just as much as WoW (if not more) so I want to see it succeed and I’m doing what I can to help it succeed.

SWTOR: Patch 1.2 Impressions

By

On April 16, 2012

In Gaming, SWTOR

Greetings Force-fanatics! It has been nearly a week since Game Update 1.2 went live and, while it did spark a couple controversies, I’d say the general feeling is fairly positive. While I’m not a hard core PvP gamer, I know that many were disappointed to hear that the Ranked PvP was yanked out at the last minute from patch 1.2, but I’m sure Bioware had a very good reason for doing that. On that same note, I have not had an opportunity to try out the new Warzone so I can’t really offer a perspective on it – though I hope to give it a try in the near future.

I also won’t be able to provide any feedback on the new Operation, Explosive Conflict, as I do not have a toon that is ready for operations.

So lets talk about the things that I have actually taken the time to investigate and the two biggest components would be the UI Customization and the Legacy System changes.

Read More

SWTOR: Tips & Tricks Part II

By

On January 9, 2012

In Gaming, MMORPG, SWTOR

I have put together another list of tips to share with everyone that is playing Star Wars The Old Republic. If you have made it all the way to 50 by now then these tips will probably be of no use to you. However, if you are just starting out, you might find these tips useful too.

  • Show Me The Credits! – Training and Crafting Missions get expensive. You will be forking over 3-3.5k per ability by the time you get into the early 20s. Also, speeder training will cost you 40 Gs at 25 (and a speeder bike will cost you an additional 8k). So make credits fast!
  • Focus But Don’t Hurry – When you are questing focus on completing your class quests. You unlock ships and companions as you progress through your story. However, don’t skip the other quests; the story and rewards are worth the time.
  • Make Them Happy – Your companion will complete crafting and mission quests faster the more you build up affection. I know its difficult to resist punishing Vette, but there is a greater output to getting her to like you sooner.
  • You Don’t Have to Tank/Heal – Regardless of which advanced class you roll, you can always DPS. All the advanced classes have a DPS tree; how you spend your talent points ultimately determines your role.
  • Crafting Conundrum – Sometimes its terribly difficult to pick the right profession. The Codex is your friend. Visit all the profession trainers to gather all the codex entries and use the information to help you decide.

That is all I have to share. I don’t think I am going to share many more tips. I think its important that you find some things out for yourself. I will be doing a post soon where I break down all the classes, which I hope people find useful as well. Enjoy Star Wars The Old Republic!

SWTOR: Vette Doesn’t Seem To Mind

By

On January 5, 2012

In Gaming, SWTOR

People are so inane it’s infuriating! The recent SWTOR rancor (see what I did there) floating around the Internet is that people are uptight because the Sith Warrior class has the option to “abuse” their companion.

Wait!! It’s not cool to be sadistic??!! Why am I just now finding this out??

Yes, when you first get Vette she is wearing a shock collar. You have the option, occasionally, to shock her for being insubordinate. There is a means to an end for it, she will eventually turn evil (her story is that she’s essentially a captive republic smuggler). You do have the option to remove her collar, which is actually the option I chose. In fact, here is a tip for you, the sooner you build affection with your companion, the quicker they will complete crafting quests and tasks.

I just don’t understand why people get so upset over pixels on a screen. I’m not going to buy into the argument that it promotes domestic abuse and violence. No it doesn’t! That’s asinine! Wouldn’t you rather the player “abuse” a video game character then a real person? It’s up to the parents to teach their children the difference between pixels and people.

I’m sure this is all happening because SWTOR is the new kid on the block and it’s rivals are just looking for fodder. This will all blow over in a week. I’m just tired of people blaming video games for bad parenting or a bad moral compass. Here is my advice for all these antagonists, life is a lot easier to endure when you buy the panties that don’t bunch up!

Cheers!

SWTOR: May The Queues Be With You

By

On December 18, 2011

In Gaming, MMORPG, SWTOR

Tuesday is going to be an interesting day for Bioware. Early access has been running for nearly a week now and the queues started forming Thursday night. As I’m writing this post I am 141 in queue, I started at 401 about 15 minutes ago.

I hope Bioware is using the staggering of the early access to accumulate statistics on peak time and estimated volume so they can, hopefully, be better prepared for Tuesday’s launch. I have noticed, though, that despite the queues to get in, once I am in the game I notice very little lag. I remember when Aion started, I could be in queue for 20-30 minutes and once I got it, my character would “rubber-band” all the time. (If you don’t know what I mean by rubber-band, that is when, while running, you think you have gone X distance and suddenly you snap backwards quite a ways).

They might do population control in the form of limiting which servers new users can create characters on. While this will help some of the queues, they still will likely face the issue of players who hadn’t pre-ordered, wanting to play on a friends server who had.

To be honest, I hope people will be patient and understanding. I know that is asking a lot of the gaming community, but when you have a major title going live, you have to allow for software company to work out the kinks and standard growing pains. They will stabilize the queues and it may take a week or so. I just urge everyone to be patient and let Bioware work the problem. Of course I know there will be those disgruntled, impatient “nubs” that demand perfection on the first day.

Ah, my queue has finished. Time to log in!

Cheers!

Page 3 of 5

Previous

Next

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén